


Lost and Found

by OhhMyy



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Eventual Relationships, Eventual Smut, F/M, Rating goes up as fic continues, Rough Draft, Will be edited at a later date
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-12-13
Updated: 2016-07-05
Packaged: 2018-05-06 12:05:43
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 8,953
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5416322
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OhhMyy/pseuds/OhhMyy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sams best friend from Stanford shows up to help on a case, everyone finds more than they bargained for. Dean is a slut. Sam is an adorable puppy. OFC is a fountain of knowledge.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Strange Meeting

**Author's Note:**

> First fan-fic, please be kind but do post constructive criticism! This fic will have eventual smut (because I can't picture a Dean fic without a little bit o' sex) and mentions of past abuse and violence (again because...Supernatural)

“Don’t get mad but –"

It was the knock on the door, rather than Sam’s burgeoning apology that startled him from his research.  Dragging his hand over his face, scratching slightly at his overgrown stubble, he raised an eyebrow at his younger brother.

 

“I swear Sam, that better be a really polite demon, don’t go telling me you called another stuffy professor to help” he groaned, forming sarcastic quotation marks over the last word. His mind was fuzzy from too much time spent at a computer that didn’t involve some kind of ‘busty beauty’ to even remember the name of the last quack Sam had put his misguided faith in.

 

“Less of the stuffy if you don’t mind, Grumpy” came the  remarkably feminine voice from the other side of the door, another eyebrow raised at the younger brother, who only raised the corner of his mouth in return, eyes gleaming slightly with a hint of mischief . “Not a demon either by the way but I would appreciate you opening the door this side of Christmas”, he stood to attention, watching his brother open the door to reveal anything but a stuffy old hack in an ill-fitting Burberry suit.

_Holy shit._

He resisted the urge to bite his own tongue. She wasn’t particularly tall, she wasn’t the prettiest thing to walk the earth and she was wearing nothing that could be considered overtly sexy (unless jeans and a black fitted t-shirt are your particular fetish), but he swore his heart started racing before he was sure it was about to stop entirely. Palms sweaty and he swore to God he was half hard.  Dean Winchester didn’t believe in love at first sight, hell Dean Winchester wasn’t all together sure he believed in love at all, but as she entered the room, leapt into his younger brothers arms and smiled, something in his chest roared.

“Hey Little One” Sam boomed through a genuine, face cracking, smile as he set her down

“Hey Large One” She laughed,  a hearty laugh, not a giggle, not altogether feminine, but a proper laugh that was far too honest and warm to be shared between souls who’d never met. It was only when she lugged in a duffle bag (waving off Sam’s offer of assistance) that Deans curiosity surrounding the situation, rather than the girl, was peaked.

“Dean, this is Emma, a friend from Stanford I thought could help us on the case, Emma this is Dean”

She stuck out a hand in his direction, smiling warmly and dropping the duffle on the ground just to the side of her “I’ve heard a lot about you, Big Brother Winchester, lovely to meet you”, still smiling she dropped her hand when he failed to raise his “Not much for touching?, no problem, noted, Hi” she offered a small wave in his direction instead, bouncing on the balls of her feet as he grunted a “Hey” out in reply. Sensing the slight tension in the room she rambled on, trying to make herself more comfortable if nothing else “I don’t mean to step on your toes, and if I’m not welcome I can always scoot, but I’ve nothing better to be doing and I’d like there to be one less murdering shit out there weather I’m in on it or not”.

Sam beckoned her over to the work desk, showing her various articles and sketches as Dean stood dumbstruck, watching her bend over the desk to give their research her utmost attention, shaking his head quite literally he coughed and wandered over to the desk.

Taking in the faint scent of oranges surrounding her, and looking past her auburn curls to her hands that rested just above a map of the town, he noted that she wore no rings and ‘accidently’ brushing her shoulder he charmed out “So Princess, what makes you think you’ll be able to help us?, I mean don’t get me wrong I got things you could work with me on but monsters? I aint so sure”.  Sam snorted, rolled his eyes and focused back on the desk, but she took a moment to respond, taking a final glance at the papers before turning her face to him, eyes gazing into his before responding “Sorry Sugar, I don’t have qualifications in sex addiction or narcissism but I’m really good with monsters and responding to my name, which doesn’t happen to be Princess”.

Dean admittedly, though he’d deny it later if asked, couldn’t help the thunder of a laugh than shot from him or the lust he felt at that telling off. When she started running off a list of possible creatures, running through details and dismissing the ones that didn’t fit without having to check anything but her own mind, with a faint hint of oranges – Dean Winchester knew he was in trouble.


	2. Death Is Nothing At All

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Getting to know each other (sort of) and finding monsters.

“So, you and Sammy met at Stanford?” Dean asked, filling the silence until Sam returned from a dinner run.

They’d exhausted themselves trying to find whatever it was killing local high school girls and were getting to know each other - or rather he was getting to know her. He was sat on his bed, feet over the edge, resting his elbows on his knees and she cross legged on the floor about 2ft away and leaning back on her palms as she tried in vain to stretch out her back. Dean shuffled forward as he waited for her answer (and getting a close view wouldn't hurt either), genuinely curious over this friend of Sam’s who he’d never heard about but seemed to know everything of their lives and was comfortable enough to tease Sam, give him nicknames, ruffle his hair or lean on him when they were frustrated with narrowing down lists of possibilities. She seemed to think she had Dean figured out and made no attempt to speak unless spoken to.

“Uh-huh, I was friends with him and Jess, he’s my best friend Dean, means everything to me and you’ve got that look on your face like you’re wondering who I am – my life has been complicated for a long time" she took a swig of her beer and paused thoughtfully before she continued "I know that’s preaching to the choir with you, but me and Sam have always kept things separate, I don’t tell anyone about him being a hunter and he generally keeps me away from his other friends, and you – but we talk at least once a week, even if it’s just a message to let me know he’s alright, you might not know me, but don’t underestimate what he means to me, or vice versa”.

“I didn’t, he’s comfortable around you, that alone tells me something” taking another swig of his beer he leans back, thinking of his next question. She talks and she’s honest (to a fault he thinks, doubts she could lie to anyone for a second and he's not sure if that's a good thing or not) but she doesn’t ask, either because she knows already or because she’s not curious he can’t fathom, but the fact she doesn’t seem to be interested in him as much as he is in her intrigues him. “Why did he call you to help? No offense but nothing about you screams hunter”.

She chuckles at that, not sure if it was meant as a compliment and kicks off her shoes before answering “I’m not a hunter, but I’ve studied, Stanford and Oxford in England, I was History, then Mythology, then Ancient Literature and believe it or not I can throw a punch”

“So you have 3 degrees?” He follows up, impressed and not bothering to hide it. She nods, but makes no effort to respond. A calm silence settles over them as he regards her, she in turn makes no effort to look at him for longer than she has to, polite but not familiar and Dean is frustrated. He's not arrogant enough to assume every woman in interested but he's also used to getting the ones he wants. 

"So, tell me about yourself" he tries, but she shrugs her shoulders and asks one word in response.

"Why?".

Hearing the roar of the impala outside she stands, heading to the motel door to open it, allowing Sam inside. They chat at they eat, general chit chat, the boys saving the gory details they usually discuss out of respect for their company, not everyone desires body tissue with their fries and they understand that.

All pretence of polite company abandoned, Dean chomps through his burger with all the grace of a starving velociraptor, despite complaining not 2 minutes ago that the fries and onion rings had done him in. She watches surreptitiously from under her lashes, half impressed and half disgusted though she can’t make up her mind quite which reaction wins. Sam rolls his eyes, and that movement the hungry dinosaur catches, mouth still full of food “What?” he forms around the chewed pieces of meat before swallowing “I got a second wind!”

“More like second death, Dean, I’m sure your stomach has just been beaten into submission” He ignores the amount of times he's actually died to laugh at that.

“Holy hell I’ve got it” she yells, shoving her food away from her half-finished, scrambling up from her chair, interrupting the bickering between brothers and grabbing the laptop. Hastily hitting a few buttons and turns the screen toward them triumphantly.

“A Draugr, second death, Sammy you beautiful but overly tall specimen of a man! They’re like less pathetic versions of zombies except I didn’t actually think they were real – though that seems silly of me now” Sam grabs the laptop and reads as she talks “Good news, killable and hopefully easy to find, bad news is that they kill in various ways, that’s why the correlation was off, and we have no idea how it’s picking it’s victims”

“Well, they all go to the same school, so we start there”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Link to some more info on the monster, I'll include some in the next chapter but not all so if you're interested;
> 
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Draugr


	3. Help! Monsters!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am a terrible human who leaves things hanging and I need to write more chapters.
> 
> I suck at writing anything actiony or that involves fighting, so this chapter is more filler than anything else, sorry!

"Why do I feel like I'm in a low budget horror movie?" 

"Because you're about to interview cheerleaders, and nobody is as excited as Dean about that"

"That's so wrong. Jail Bait, monsters, a high school, all we need is a bad soundtrack"

Dean rolled his eyes as Sam and Emma bantered behind him, wondering absent mindedly about cheer leading uniforms. They'd spent the morning buying a suit for her so she could pass as FBI (she insisted on paying, mumbling something about the boys having illegal cash and being uncomfortable enough with lying about her career) and made an appointment with the Principal to interview some of the girls whose friends had been killed. 

Walking through the large doors into the gymnasium they were greeted by the smell of bleach (because nothing gets rid of blood like the foul smelling substance) and the morose faces of a bundle of almost-women. She tried her best to give them a reassuring smile as Dean sauntered to the front of the group and started introducing them. 

"I'm Agent Page, this is Agent Richards" he motioned towards Sam and then towards Emma "and this is Agent Love, our Liaison psychologist, we need to ask you girls some questions about the recent incidents but if any of you need to talk in confidence, she is your best bet. If we start at the end of this row things should move along smoothly" They'd decided before arriving that three Agents would look odd, and that the girls might feel more confident talking to a woman in private than two officials. She swallowed nervously, but stood back, glancing at the girls for any signs of nervousness, if there was something she knew about it was troubled teenage girls. 

*

"A damn bust, none of them knew anything important" Dean raved, loosening his tie and walking towards the Impala. Just as Emma was about to let herself in the back, she spotted one of the girls from the gym, standing just outside the building and motioning at her subtly. The girl was small for her age, easily outranked by her classmates and dressed in obvious hand me downs of thrift clothes. She made her way over to the girl and asked her if she needed to talk, receiving a nod as she looked around for a quiet spot.

"Don't think I'm crazy" she blabbed as soon as they were away from the crowed. That's always a good start, Emma thought but rested a hand on the girls shoulder and gave a reassuring squeeze before assuring her she wouldn't. 

"It's a monster" the girl whispered, shutting her eyes as if bracing her self for laughter, Emma's heart squeezed in her chest. "The first girl to die, Sarah, they killed her"  
"They who?"  
"The other girls"  
"What do you mean they killed her?" she was trying to get information without pushing, not wanting to come across too forceful and scare the girl off, she already looked like she wanted to jump out of her own skin (Emma darkly wondered if that was from fear of death or fear of school and sympathized with her). 

*

Climbing into the backseat of Baby, she sighed

"Well, I've got it, but I'm not sure if it makes me happy or sad", the boys turned in their seats and raised an eyebrow each at her. She sighed again and rubbed the bridge of her nose. "If the girl is telling the truth, and I think she is, that group of cheer leaders are a bunch of murderers" Sam murmured a vague retort that now it definitely felt like a low budget horror movie and Dean punched him lightly in the arm. "We need to look into it, but we need to see how the first girl died and if it's possible it could have been a prank gone wrong"

*

Back at the motel Sam was busy going through his notes whilst Emma took a shower and Dean scoured local newspapers. Dean raised an eyebrow at the humming coming from the bathroom and turned to Sam "Is she singing?", Sam nodded in response and the corners of his mouth turned upwards slightly "Yeah, she does that when she showers" he chuckled, Dean smirked "Go Sammy, I don't even wanna know how you know what she does in the shower!". Sam rolled his eyes and went back to his notes without dignifying Deans accusation with a response. Dean was internally trying to both picture her in the shower and fathom if Sammy had.

"I think we may be onto something Dean, the first Girl, Sarah Travers, it looks like she died by drowning, at least a month before any of the other deaths and every one since has happened in relatively quick succession" 

"What, she drowned and comes back to pick off those who wronged her?" 

"It's not like we haven't heard that before, just not with this creature"

"Alright, so how do we kill it?" 

At this, Emma emerged from the bathroom with a towel wrapped around her hair, she was dressed in a pair of shorts and a tank top with bare feet, Dean did a double take and forgot what they were talking about.


	4. Nicknames

“Dean, stop staring at my legs and pay attention” She glared at him, rubbing the towel in her hair before hanging it on the doorknob and walking over to sit on one of the beds. “You can injure it with iron, but it won’t kill it. Depending on which legend you believe you either need to drag it back to its grave and bury it or cut its head off and burn it.” 

“That doesn’t sound too complicated Princess, why do you look so concerned?” Shaking her head, water droplets landing on the floor at her feet, she responded “I thought we’d discussed this whole calling me by my name thing? I look concerned because they shape shift, damn thing could be disguising itself as anything”

Sam groaned, dropping his head in his hands, he could feel a pressure headache coming on from too much reading, Emma looked over at him, a small smile appearing on her lips “Go take a shower large one, I’ll fill your charming brother in on the details”, Sam got up slowly, dragging his large body out of the chair with another groan and placed a small kiss on the top of her head before wandering to the bathroom and shutting himself in.

“What’s with the attitude Princess?” Dean asked, moving to occupy the bed opposite her, glancing at her bare legs before looking up at her face.   
“Again with Princess, is it that you can’t remember my name? Too many women in your life Dean? You seem more content with pissing me off than finding the thing that’s killing teenage girls, sue me if I’m a bit sassy” she bit out, Dean actually managed to be shocked at her tone.

“Seeing as we’re pretty sure they killed this poor girl leading to her being some kind of undead killing machine, I don’t really have a lot of sympathy”

She sighed, flopping backwards to lay on the bed before she mumbled in an apologetic tone “just stop with Princess alright? You can just call me Oi or Hey or something”, she sounded tired and Dean guessed that this life was exhausting for someone not used to it, he huffed out a small apology before mirroring her position.

“I don’t even know how I feel about killing it, hasn’t she been through enough?” He was surprised by her question, unsure if it was rhetorical or if she was expecting an answer but she continued before he could give her one “Poor kid gets bullied, locked in a drain and dies because some stupid kids decided it would be funny, how do you destroy something that’s angry for a good reason Dean?” 

“It’s not her anymore, it’s awful, and I forgot that not everyone is used to this shit, I’m sorry, but that thing isn’t her, it’s a monster and it will start killing people who didn’t do anything wrong” He sat up, taking in her stomach moving faster than before, focused on her heavy breathing and placed a hand gently on her knee. She shot up, almost fast enough to give herself head rush and he removed it, lifting his hands up to show he wasn’t a threat and gently placed it back down before looking her square in the eyes “The kid deserves to be at peace, she deserves to rest and as much as what those kids did sucks, they don’t deserve to die” he gave her knee a brief squeeze before removing it and waited for Sam to be done with his shower.

Just before entering the bathroom he stripped his shirt off and turned, flashing her a smirk and asked if she’d like to join him, he expected a glare but to his surprise she let out a full body laugh and flipped him off. 

She made herself comfortable in Sam’s bed as the taller brother dried off, thinking to herself how much she’d missed him, phone calls and emails were nice but they’d been so close that sharing a bed was second nature and whilst she’d always had many friends she could count the close ones on a single hand. Not realizing how lonely she’d been she waited for him to get into bed before tucking her head into his chest and curling in on herself, seemingly in a similar thought Sam whispered “I missed you, little one” before she turned over to face the other bed, letting him be the big spoon with an arm over her waist. 

Dean came back and with a chuckle threw his damp towel over at his brother “If you two are going to be all snuggly and shit then at least warn me if sex is gonna happen”, admittedly inside he felt jealous, a little green rage monster beating at his chest. She threw the towel back at him, hitting him square in the face “Not tonight, Dear, I have a headache. Sam knows if his hand wanders it’s coming off” she joked, but the younger Winchester was already snoring quietly, out like a light in an instant.

“You save that violence for tomorrow, you might need it” he retorted, climbing into his own bed so he was facing her, a bedside table with a lamp and alarm clock slightly corrupting his view of her face. He saw her eyes shutter as she let out an unsteady breath. Moving a hand out from underneath the duvet he reached for her, making grabby hands to indicate that she should let him have hers, she acquiesced and he gave her hand a squeeze before placing a light kiss on her knuckles and letting her loose.

“Get some sleep”

“’Night Dean”

“Night…Emma”


	5. Man, The Man-Hunter

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is about as actiony as it's going to get. Let's go monster hunting!

“You guys just have iron swords lying around? Why does that not surprise me? Sam that’s a sign we’ve been friends for too long and I think I’m going to have to cut you off”

Sam chuckled, elbowing her gently and flashed her smile “You have said that too many times for me to believe it”

“I keep you around for the eye candy; you’ll lose me if you ever get old or fat” 

“You wound me, I thought you kept me around for the constant worry I provide you with” 

“That too, I just love waking up at 2am fearing for your life, keeps me young” 

“How are you both so chatty this early?” Dean grumbled, closing the boot of the Impala before handing a large knife to each of them as they both answered “coffee” simultaneously. He turned and gave her a smile (she, having called shotgun when Sam had a mouthful of caffeine thought it was nice not to have to crane her neck to smile back).He turned the stereo on, looking over at her in shock when she started singing along with Jimi Hendrix, drumming her hands against her thighs, she noted his look and shut her mouth immediately. 

“By all means, carry on; I’m surprised you know all the words!” 

“To this? It’s a classic! Who doesn’t feel the need to sing All Along the Watchtower?” Dean motioned with his head to the backseat where Sam sat looking embarrassed.

“Oh Sam, I’d forgotten about your awful taste in music, you’ve let me down, you’ve let Dean down and most importantly you’ve let Hendrix down, you should be ashamed of yourself”. 

Dean chuckled before turning the music up, the two of them singing along and smiling at each other until they pulled to a stop at the school.

*

“Mythology says that the smell of death follows the Draugr, so watch out for anything that smells odd”.

Coming to the school on a Saturday had seemed like a good plan; theoretically the Draugr would remain there as that’s where it died but the downside of having a body as opposed to being a ghost was that it could move around. None of them thought the monster would risk being caught outside of the school; chances of its intended victims being followed home were slim.

“Our girl said Sarah used to hide in the toilets during the school day, so let’s start there, there are three girls’ bathrooms, three of us so it makes sense for us to split up”

“No offense, but you’re new to this, splitting up aint gonna work for you” She appreciated the concern, but rolled her eyes anyway “I’ll be fine Dean, we need to find it, chances are if it knows we’re coming, it’ll hide, this way we narrow down the places it can go” Dean hate to admit that she had a point, she smiled reassuringly at him and he nodded. Just before going their separate ways he gripped her shoulder and said; “you need me, ugh...us, you call, even if you get scared of your own shoe scuffin’ on the floor, alright?”, before moving off in his own direction.

*

It was bloody typical that she’d be the one to find the damn thing, first job luck she guessed. 

Her back was pressed against the bathroom wall as she stared at it, she couldn’t swing her blade, couldn’t stop looking at it, shocked by how human it looked, very obviously the body of a girl, blackened and bruised, red in places and exactly how she’d imagined a rotting corpse would look. It was heavy, she could tell by its footsteps, swollen to way over the size a small girl should be.

Her attention was stolen only by the sound of her temporary phone ringing, she flipped it open in her pocket without looking away as the Draugr advanced on her slowly, head turning from side to side as if trying to figure her out. 

“Dean, Sam, help!” she cried, loud enough that she knew they’d have heard her before the monster figured out she was a threat and increased its pace. She had just enough time to bring her blade up before the thing pinned her to the wall, trying to crush her to death. She wanted to gag at the stench but her body felt like it was in a vice.

“Hey!”

Dean charged through the door as she felt a rib crack and the Draugr turned towards him, easing the pressure from her enough for her to bring her blade up and slice its neck. The head landed with a heavy thump on the floor as she wrapped her arms around her torso and heaved in a huge gulp of air.  
Sam came through the door just after Dean had stepped over the body, he picked up the head as Dean crouched in front of her. 

“You alright?” he asked, looking her in the eyes and placing a hand cautiously over her ribs

“I’m fine” she wheezed convincingly “I’ve had worse” Dean raised an eyebrow, about to ask a question before Sam interrupted by asking what they were going to do with the body

“Wrap it, salt it, burn it, bury the ashes back in her grave to make sure”

*

After the salt and burn, Sam took responsibility for burying the ashes, Dean taking Emma back to the motel to look at her ribs.

Sitting her down on the bed, Dean kneeled on the floor and motioned for her to lift her shirt (technically he suggestively asked her to take it off, to which he was firmly told to keep it in his pants). As she lifted it she bowed her head, biting her lip and avoiding his eyes. Dean’s eyes caught a scar across her stomach, it was thin, a knife wound he thought, but long, starting just below her ribs and delving under the waistband of her jeans. He traced it with a fingertip, confused when she didn’t move her head.

“How’d you get this?” he inquired, intrigued and concerned, but she didn’t move as she answered

“Another time, another place”, she moved her head only when he pressed lightly on her ribs but still didn’t lift it, if anything she was now trying to make herself even smaller.

“I think it’s fractured, I can wrap you, but it might hurt, or I can give you painkillers” 

“I’m fine, I’ve had worse”

“That didn’t pick one of the options” He studied her, noted that he hands were clenched in the sheets.

“I’m fine, I’ve had worse”

“Emma, you wanna look at me?” She shook her head and didn’t look up. Dean sighed, pushing himself from the carpet and walking over to his bag before fishing out two white tablets, he put them on the bedside table next to her and fetched a glass of water.

“I aint gonna make you take them, but they’re there if you change your mind, alright?” She nodded, and grabbed his wrist as he went to move away, lifting her head finally she raised a tiny smile at him in a silent thank you and lowered her head again, dropping his wrist.

When he exited the shower later he heard Sam talking to her. He cracked the door open and peaked out, saw his brother kneeling in front of her, her position unchanged from earlier except her head was now lifted, looking him in the eyes.

“They’re painkillers, I promise, you’re in pain. Take them, I’ll be here” she whimpered out a small “ ‘Kay” before popping the pills into her mouth and washing them down. 

She shuffled past Dean and into the bathroom as he exited, ripping off her clothes and jumping under the hot spray, desperate to remove the smell of death from herself.

*

“What the hell Sammy, she afraid I’m gonna fucking drug her or something?”

“Let it go Dean”


	6. My Past

“Bobby called; he’s got a case that he needs our help on” Sam declared as he entered the Motel room with three steaming cups of coffee the next morning, he handed Emma a coffee and watched amused as she shut her eyes, a moan of pleasure slipping out as the liquid hit the back of her throat.   
“Do I get to meet Bobby?” she piped up after swallowing her mouthful, Dean turned to her, surprised.

“Aren’t you going home?”

“Do you want me to go home?"

Sam watched the two of them with an amused smirk before interrupting “You can come, can’t she Dean? She’s helping us out, she can be a spare driver” 

“I’ll provide valuable entertainment whilst one of you sleeps, it’s a long drive, you might get lonely” she tempted, teasing smile on her lips “I’ll buy the next lot of coffee…and lunch…and dinner if you’re really lucky”

Dean laughed, pretending to contemplate her offer before accepting with an air of pretend defeat, like he’d really had his arm twisted. 

*

Sam napped in the backseat after a few hours as Dean drove, music on lower than usual so he could talk to her.

“Why do you want to come with? It aint exactly a walk in the park”. She glanced up at him, leaning back in her chair. “Nobody’s life is a walk in the park Dean” he nodded thoughtfully before pressing again “You don’t want some apple pie, white picket fence life then?” she shook her head once “Nope, I had it once, didn’t stick”.  
“What happened?” He pressed, glancing at her as she gazed out of the window before turning back to the road.

“You should have seen Sam and Jess, Dean, Christ on a bike they were perfect for each other. I’ve never seen him happier” she glanced at Sam in the backseat, a fond smile on her lips “They would have had it, I’m telling you, the whole thing, marriage, kids, and a dog, all of it. They’d have died of old age, still together, probably at the same bloody time” 

“That didn’t answer my question”

She huffed a laugh, resting her head against the window and closing her eyes.

“No, I know”.

Sam woke not long after and took his shift at the wheel whilst Dean slept, him and Emma made small talk and caught up before pulling into a gas station. Emma got out, filled up the tank and opened the back door to shake Dean gently, confused and alarmed when he opened his green eyes to gaze at her and her stomach flipped.  
“Gas stop, do you want anything?” she whispered, not quite sure why she was keeping her tone low.

“Mmhm, wanna wake up to those pretty eyes again” She rolled her eyes and wished her stomach would stop fluttering.

“I’m being serious, idiot”

“So was I, Gorgeous”

She barked a laugh and closed the door, walking away to pay for gas as a voice called out “I love to watch you walk away, Baby!” and then “Pie, get pie!” 

She came back without pie. When Dean asked her why, distraught and peckish, she responded that she wasn’t called Baby and thought he was talking to someone else. As funny as he found it, he spent the next hour moaning under his breath about being hungry.

They stopped in Colorado after she’d mentioned her love of the National Park. Sam wanted to go for a run, Emma wanted to join but her ribs hadn’t even begun to heal so her and Dean drove up to Sprague Lake, telling Sam to meet them there when he was done.

As they got out of the car, she pulled out an apple pie from the bag of groceries and presented it to him with a bashful expression. 

“I may or may not have lied about the existence of pie” She apologized whilst handing him a plastic fork, sticking a second one in her back pocket in case he decided to share. He did.

They sat on a bench right by the water in companionable silence as they picked at the pie. Dean got up to put the container in a nearby bin before sitting down with a grunt.

“Thought you didn’t like apple pie” he smiled.

“I said apple pie life, actual pie is quite different” she smiled but grew silent as she turned away. 

“I was engaged once” she piped up a few minutes later, throwing a small stone into the water and facing away from him “At Stanford, Sam and Jess, Me and Michael, we were all friends” 

Dean looked at her, shocked, unsure if he should press further or if she was just talking for talking sake.

“He died”

“I’m sorry”

“Don’t be. He was gone long before he went. Fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva.” She paused.

“I’m sorry?” He felt like a huge ass for asking for clarification, really he was just filling the silence.

“His body atrophied, bones calcified, he slowly lost movement. It was like his bones grew doubles and he just got stuck in his own body” She sniffed, but she didn’t cry.

“How long was he sick?” 

“A long time, he was ill when I met him, but not completely, we were together for about a year before he got really sick. It took him two years to die and the last year of that he was completely bed bound.”

“Shit”

She laughed darkly and nodded, thinning her lips into a line and throwing another rock.

“I didn’t even want to get married, I loved him but I don’t think I was in love, isn’t that awful? I wanted to make him happy and he was already dying, I had this stupid idea that if he was happy then he’d live longer and I didn’t want him to die even though he was in pain, I still feel like the worst person about it. It was selfish to want him to stay".


	7. Reflecting

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I tried so hard to do a happy chapter...I'm sorry!

He sat in the passenger seat as she drove, peering occasionally, subtly, at her face. If anything he had more questions than answers about her. Sam pretended to sleep in the back, unbeknownst to the pair.

They sat in quiet companionship, she offered no conversation and he couldn't fathom a single sentence to say out loud. She didn't appear upset; her hands relaxed on the wheel as she drummed her thumbs in rhythm to the beat of the music filling the car.

The scar, the pain, the indifference and the drugs; Dean was confused, curious and sad for the woman who carried an incredible amount of guilt for something he felt made her incredible rather than how she saw herself. He wondered vaguely if she actually thought that she had continued her partners suffering, idly thinking to himself that he thought it would have made the end of his life more bearable to have this woman beside him. In a short time he'd learnt that plying her with questions was not going to work, trying to respect her boundaries whilst digging into her past and his attraction towards her without offending.

She coughed, drawing his attention.

"You alright over there?" she turned briefly towards him, eyes focusing on him completely before turning at once back to the road.

"Yeah, didn't think you wanted to talk"

"I'm not going to break Dean, I'm fine"

 _Fine_... she was always fine, never good or even okay, he wondered how often she'd been telling herself she was unbreakable whilst feeling close to shattering, knowing from personal experience that you could hide from the world but never from yourself. 

"Tell me something happy about yourself" he piped up, shocking himself as he hadn't even had that as a conscious thought- the shock must have registered on his face because she laughed quietly and drummed her thumbs again in contemplation. 

"About me? Or something that's happened to me?" 

"Either"

"I can touch my nose with my tongue" She proved her point by demonstrating, and flashing a wide, smug smile in his direction.

"I'm being serious" 

"Oh, well you didn't specify that it had to be serious, tell me something about you" She still had that smug smile on her face but she was watching the road. She flicked her tongue over her front teeth and Deans eyes shot to watch.

"I'm great in bed" He responded, turning to her completely, resting one knee over the other and smirked at her. A loud, sudden boom of laughter shot from her and she turned her head towards him with an eyebrow raised. 

"Do you hand out surveys afterwards or is that your own opinion?" His smirk only grew.

"Oh, you can tell"

"Have you never seen When Harry Met Sally?" He had the good grace to look both impressed and offended. She started to impersonate quietly, wary of waking Sam, moaning and groaning, gripping the steering wheel tightly and wiggling her hips slightly. About half way through her (very dramatic) impression she had to stop due to laughing so hard, tears were streaming down her face. She pulled her sweater down over her hand to dab at her eyes, keeping the alternate hand on the wheel.

Dean was watching her carefully, huge smile on his face, entertained, admittedly a bit turned on, and loving how her face lit up as she laughed.

A few moments of silence passed before she piped up again.

"When I was a kid, we used to live on this big ranch, farmhouse style, we had chickens and cows and a pig and I really wanted a horse. Wasn't allowed one so my brother Trey taught me how to ride a cow! I was this scrawny little weed, riding a cow as fast as it could go over a field. That was pretty happy"

"I didn't know you had a brother. I also didn't know you could ride cows"

"Yeah, he was amazing, taught me all sorts of odd things, but riding a cow was definitely one of the weirdest!" her smile lessened but she sighed a happy, nostalgic sigh.

"Was?" 

"Yeah, sorry I've just brought the conversation down again, he killed himself when I was in college. Mum died when I was a kid and Dad's gone, it's just little old me" She looked thoughtful but not sad. She put her hand on the gear stick and Dean gently laid his on top and she tilted her palm over briefly to twine their fingers together before giving a gentle squeeze and turning back over the change gear, readying to slow Baby down.

 


	8. Friendship

It was beginning to get dark as they pulled into Bobby's drive, the sun setting red over a clear autumn, South Dakota, sky. She shut the engine off, missing the comforting hum of the engine reminding her they were on the road, and took a deep breath before hauling herself from the drivers seat, closing the door behind her. She shook her legs out and willed her left ass cheek to come back to life whilst she walked as the boys tumbled out behind her. 

She anxiously picked at the skin surrounding her index finger as Sam walked over to her, stretching his back with a loud crunch, and bumped her left hip with his right in a reassuring gesture she'd encountered from the man countless times. 

"He'll love you, promise" He leaned down to whisper in her ear, already knowing her thought process. She nodded and steeled herself for just the opposite. 

Dean walked behind them, watching the affectionate display with a glare aimed at this brothers back and hands shoved in his jean pockets. 

 

After answering the door, Bobby hugged the two boys and waited for her to walk in behind them. The bear hug that she received shocked her and the friendly "It's nice to finally meet ya" she received shocked Dean.

"Hold up, finally? Am I the only one who didn't know who she was?" He huffed out, tone low and gruff, clearly put out.

"Pretty much" Bobby replied, tone equally gruff but full of amusement "We've been phone pals for years"

"Bobby, you make us sound like gossipy old women" She smiled, shoulders easing and body relaxing with relief. She stepped forward slightly, closer to them, feeling more welcome than she'd anticipated.

"Fine, fine. She called me when Sam was in hell and she was worried, she checks in when she can't get 'a hold 'a him" He shot her a friendly smile (which on his face looked more like a grimace) and ushered them into the living room to sit.

An hour later the gossip was in full swing. Bobby told tales of the boys when they were young, trying to embarrass them in front of Emma. Emma, perched on the arm of the chair Sam was sitting on, swigged her beer and laughed along with them, wincing slightly when a laugh shook her injured ribs and waving off the boys concern. 

"Anyone want another beer?" Bobby asked, lifting himself from the sofa with a groan and hauling ass towards the kitchen, both boys answered in the affirmative and she shook her head no.

"You sure Hon? You're still on your first one" 

"I'm fine thanks Bobby, never drink more than one" She responded casually, airily and with a wave of the wrist, but the way Sam's hand had moved to her leg in a reassuring squeeze didn't escape the older two men's notice. Dean raised an eyebrow at Bobby who shrugged back.

Bobby nodded and headed into the kitchen, coming back a moment later beers in hand. Placing them on the coffee table he sat back down (with another groan Dean had pointed out, adding an "Old Man" at the end).

"How long are you kids staying for? I'll set up rooms" The answer was a few days, Bobby nodded again and made a beeline for the empty glass bottled before Emma interrupted.

"Bobby let me tidy, you're doing enough" He raised an eyebrow at her but agreed anyway, watching as Dean offered his help, picking up the rest of the empties in one hand and used the other to hover over her lower back to guide her to the kitchen. He cast a look over to Sam, noting the smirk on his face but also his knitted brow, seemingly worried. He shook his head slightly, thinking that he was too old to be meddling and moved towards the stairs to set up beds. 

"He likes you" Dean pointed out, depositing the glasses into the recycling bin and leaning back against the kitchen counter as she did disposed of hers. She turned towards him and smiled.

"I was worried he wouldn't" she admitted, crossing her arms at her chest but relaxing her stance.

"How could anyone not like you?" he charmed, flashing her a grin.

"I'm very annoying, I've been hiding it because I wanted to drive the Impala, give it time" Dean snorted, mirroring her pose by crossing his arms.

"Nah, don't think it's possible for anyone not to love you"

"You are obviously very drunk and I cannot take you at all seriously right now" 

She tried to act stern but the smile on her face ruined the illusion and he pushed off from the counter and walked closer to her, into her personal space. She swallowed hard but didn't back up as he bent towards her, eyes roving from her eyes to her lips.

"It takes more than that to get me drunk. I think you're brilliant" 

He leant towards her, lips moving closer to hers as she swallowed again, hand coming to rest gently on her hip, soothing her slight flinch by rubbing circles with his thumb. His breath ghosted over her lips and her eyes shuttered closed, quickly and fierce.

"Dean...please stop" she whispered, voice tiny, halting, almost shame creeping into her tone as he pulled away instantly, respecting her request but hurt filling his features. He takes in her rigid stance and her eyes still tightly squeezed shut and another emotion takes over his world worn face, concern. He's confused but even in the back of his mind he doesn't think this is about him. He's angry, angry that she looks frightened and completely unsure if she's afraid of him. 

Her eyes open as quickly as they had shut, glancing up only briefly before apologizing and leaving the room, leaving him there confused. She mumbles to Sam that she needs some air before fleeing through the front door, sighing with relief as the cold air hits her skin.


	9. Running

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Will be edited tomorrow! My brain has been tired for weeks and I can't seem to get the hang of tense right now.

She runs outside, passing the Singers Auto Salvage sign and surrounding cars, and out onto the road. The cold wind is harsh on her face and there's already a dull ache in her cracked rib but she doesn't stop. Her feet pound the pavement and her mind shuts out any thought that isn't "run, keep running".

Back at the house, Dean stands in the living room, pointedly ignoring Sam's questioning look and staring at the door as if force of will alone will make her walk back through it.

"What did you do?" Sam esquires, there's an accusation in his tone that Dean doesn't care for but he can't give the answer Sam wants as he's not sure himself. He shrugs, finally turning to look at his younger brother.

"I'm serious Dean, what the hell did you do?" Sam rises from his chair, squares up to Dean and Dean almost loses his breath at the emotion swirling in his siblings eyes. There's a protectiveness that Dean has never seen aimed at anyone other than himself, he's fierce and angry and ready to lose his shit over a woman Dean had never heard him mention. 

Bobby heads down the stairs at the sound of raised voices and finds the brothers ready for confrontation.

"What did you two idjits do? Where's Emma? Christ I leave you children alone for 10 minutes, damn Apocalypse" 

Dean takes a cautious step back from Sam, sighs and rubs a hand over his face, fingernails scratching slightly on his stubble.

"I didn't do anything dammit, we almost kissed, she was fine and then she wasn't. I didn't do anything dammit Sam" 

Bobby and Sam simultaneously sit back onto arms of separate chairs. 

 

Her phone buzzes in her pocket. She lets it ring a few times before picking it up, out of breath and in pain;

"Sam?" she wheezes it out, putting her free hand against her rib cage and doubling forward slightly to draw in deep breaths

"Where are you?" she hears on the other end, voice filled with panic that in turn fills her with guilt

"I'm...sorry, shit...sorry, I"

"Emma? Are you okay? Where are you?"

"Fine, went...running, let me catch...my breath" She brings the phone in her other hand back to her ribs, stretching lightly and feeling them click under her hands, sucking in a deep breath she continues

"I'm just turning around Sam, don't want any fuss honestly I'm fine" He can hear her ragged breathing, but he knows not to keep pushing her, knows she'll talk when she's back

"You gave us all a fright, you need me to come get you or want me to wait up here?"

"I'm fine. Tell the others to go to bed Sam, please"

"Deans doing circles on the carpet like a dog" She laughs at that, a rough laugh that sounds like sandpaper and she has to cough before sucking in another breath, briefly she thinks that this breathing thing is a bit of nonsense and if there's a God there's a definite flaw in the design.

"As long as he doesn't pee on it, we're fine" She hears him place his hand over the receiver and then talking...then yelling, presumable from Dean, before the blurring lifts

"They're heading up, if you're not back in half an hour I'm getting in Baby"

"Oh my own personal chauffeur, how sweet"

"You're lucky I like you, I am not finding you funny right now" He's lying, she can hear the smirk break through the worry in his voice. She needs that, needs to know that they're alright even if he's angry, her brain nags that her flight reflex always seems to bite him in the ass and she draws in another deep breath, dreading the walk back to Bobby's

"I love you, Sam" 

"You tell me that again when you get here".

She does. 

When she walks past the piled up autos she sees him waiting at the front door, legs and arms crossed and eyes darting to trace her in the dark. He holds his arms out when she's closer and she falls into them, head resting against his chest. "I love you" she mutters, and feels him nod. She listens to his heartbeat, steady in contrast to her mile a minute pulse and she inhales, her mind replacing "run" with "safe" as he rubs circles on her back, slowly walking her back into the living room and sitting her on the sofa. 

"I'm sorry" She states it clearly but she's looking at her feet under the pretense of removing her shoes, toeing them off and placing them neatly at the end of the sofa.  
Sam hauls a blanket over her shoulders and sits next to her, pulling her in for a quick one armed hug.

"It's okay Little One"

"It's not though is it?" She's mumbling, Sam knows she's tired, barely keeping her eyes open since her ass hit the cushions. He stands and tries to bring her with but she's already falling to occupy the space he's vacated.

"There's a bed upstairs, you get to room with me, aren't you lucky?" 

"Shh, get lucky tomorrow, sleep with you then" He has to listen closely to hear her, stiffing a laugh behind his hand, she's almost asleep and she's missed the joke but he knows he'll remind her of it in the morning, wishes he'd had the good sense to pull out his phone and record her. He'd gotten used to filming a tired Emma at Stanford, a long running joke among their friends that a tired Emma was like any of the rest of them drunk. 

He tries to pull the blanket over her shoulders but is greeted by a moan and a soft swat at his hand, he places a kiss on her forehead and trudges to bed.

Not more than half an hour later, a groggy Dean treks downstairs for a glass of water. He grabs a glass in the kitchen and fills it from the tap, taking a sip as he walks back into the living room having woken slightly. He hears a small hum, distinctly feminine, coming from the sofa and double takes to see Emma curled up on it. She stirs as his footsteps edge closer, eyes opening slightly to see him illuminated by the lamp on the side table Sam had left glowing for her. She coughs once, ribs screaming at her as she unfurls a tad, Dean makes a vague hand gesture he hopes translates into a command for her to stay still.

He makes his way round to the front of the sofa, nudging the coffee table out of his way as he lowers himself to the floor in front of her, crossing his legs and facing her side on . He takes in her attempts to open her eyes fully, the calling of sleep pulling at her eyelids as her mind tries to clear the fog and pay attention. He scoots back slightly, shoulder and half of his back leaning against the seat of the sofa. 

Her eyes open enough to see him and she reaches out an arm to wrap around his shoulders/torso/neck (unsure really where she was aiming but deciding there's not enough energy to recalculate).

" 'm sorry" she rumbles, head moving forward slightly to press her forehead to his shoulder, he rests his lips against her hair, careful not to kiss, and picks a hand up to loosely grip the arm creating a V around his shoulders and neck. He sighs.

"I can't figure you out" he half whispers, half grumbles against her hair, she hums again and he's sure she's drifted back off before she replies

" 's'okay, I can't figure me out either" her voice holds a soft sort of resignation that he hopes is down to sleep.

"You gonna tell me your life story so I don't do something else to make you run?"

"No. Too much. All bad. Always run" She's stopped making sense and the way her head is pressing heavier into his shoulder tells him that she's mostly asleep and he's pretty sure beyond coherent but her arm tightens slightly and he's almost certain he feels her place a kiss to the blade of his shoulder.


End file.
